Emotional problems are very common problems that emerge especially during the age of adolescence or during teenage years. Any behavioral and emotional problem occurring in adolescents can cause numerous problematic behaviors in adulthood which interfere in the important life domains including social, occupational, family, relationships, educational, behavioral etc. 

These are not problems to be ignored, they are very serious problems that may negatively affect someone’s mental health and their well-being. Problems during adolescence or during teenage years, are very common concerns for adolescents and their parents, nowadays.

There are so many emotional problems which affect this age group, such as anxiety, oversensitivity, irrational fear, anger, frustration, irritability, fear for future, hopelessness, helplessness, low self esteem, fear of rejection, throwing things around, weakness, deficits in social competence, emotional outbursts, mood swing or extremely low mood and depression and so many more. If these problems are left untreated for a long time, they may become dangerous; as even a common mood issue can cause depressive symptoms, if not treated.

Adolescence is a very crucial period of development where so many changes occur in a person. During these changes, they face a lot of issues where even the little things affect them very easily. Especially teens may often experience more than one emotional problem. There are some life events or experiences that can eventually lead to emotional problems in a person such as family issues, poor economical condition of family, body shaming and bullying (especially during school or college), peer rejection, higher expectation for the future, abuse and violence in one’s life, social anxiety, victimization, over strict and controlling parents, academic pressure, drug and alcohol abuse, trauma in social situation, disruptive family like divorce of parents or death of any loved once and so much more.

These issues have a very high potential to cause emotional problems among adolescents and teens. These issues affect them not only emotionally but also physically, socially, and educationally. 

These experiences in life may develop the emotion-related physical symptoms including back pain, weakness, headache, stomach ache (especially in young adolescents), eating problems, sleeping issues, or breathing issues. They may face some social issues as well, like poor communication skills, unhealthy nervousness, poor social relationships, diminishing in social activities, poor academic performance, and disinterest in school activities. These problems may cause severe mental health conditions in adolescents.

Due to the long term emotional problems, adolescents and teens are very prone to symptoms of depression. Depression and anxiety have now become very common in adolescents. Depression is the 4th and anxiety is the 9th leading cause of disability and illness in adolescents in the age range of 15-19 years, globally. 

Sometimes people are not aware about the severity or risks of these emotional problems. They think that this is a normal phase of life which may go with the passage of time and they are left untreated, which may be very risky for them. So it is very important for the adolescents and their parents to know about the symptoms of emotional problems and going ahead for the treatment.

Parents need to talk to their children because family support is the only thing that might matter for the adolescents and teens. If parents listen to them without judgment, and provide them with emotional resources of acceptance, love, respect, and quality time, then the children can cope better from these issues. 

Adolescents need to talk to their parents about their problems. They should try indulging in regular exercises, develop their problem solving skills and interpersonal skills, they should learn how to manage emotions etc. If adolescents or teens are unable to solve their problems, it can be very risky for their mental health. An estimated 10-20% of adolescents experiencing some mental health condition globally, are still left under-diagnosed and untreated, which affects their well-being and health. 

If you and anyone in your family are suffering from any emotional or behavioral problems, you just need to seek help from any counselor or psychologist. With their help, adolescents can get over from their emotional issues. The professionals might as well help you with the development of your child’s coping abilities.  

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